Ammonia is one of the major gases produced by anaerobic breakdown of excrement and urine in livestock areas. Its generation and control is a major problem associated with confined livestock operations.
Excessively high ammonia levels in the air are well known to be associated with both swine and poultry operations and have been of major concern to these industries. High ammonia levels have a detrimental effect on the health of hogs causing respiratory tract problems, pneumonia and inflammation of the nasal mucosa. Blindness and significant death loss in both poultry broiler and layer operations has been associated with high levels of ammonia produced in these areas. In addition to the identified health problems associated with high levels of ammonia, the average daily weight gain of hogs is also affected. Studies have shown that levels of ammonia in the air exceeding 25 ppm reduce the average daily weight gain of the animals by approximately 12%. Conventional methods of reducing the ammonia levels in livestock operation such as forced air systems are not always effective because they do not reduce the level of ammonia generated which ultimately diffuses into the air. These systems strive only to remove the toxic gases by displacement of the contaminated air. Enclosed areas, such as pig nurseries, are particularly vulnerable to inefficient removal of contaminated air during cold weather conditions.
One solution to this problem is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,792 wherein a dry powder mixture of borax and magnesium carbonate is used as a litter material to absorb uric wastes discharged from the animals.
It is also known to use solutions of alkylbenzenesulfonic acid and boric acid in water as a deordorant from human waste (Chemical Abstracts, 84, 35371 h, 1976) as well as to spray solutions of 3-5% glacial acetic acid on waste materials to reduce the odor of ammonia (Chemical Abstracts 84, 35372 j 1976).
A filter material for removing odors from air is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,300. This filter material may include, among many suitable chemisorbent materials, organic polycarboxylic or monocarboxylic acids. Other references also discuss the removal of ammonia from air by filtering, see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,586,327 and 1,559,980.
None of these references, however, achieve the results which are attainable by the process of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is able to overcome the disadvantages associated with the processes currently available and described in the prior art by providing highly efficient compositions for direct application to waste environments.